NO! to the Women's March Organization

I am a feminist. I have been since about 1966 when I figured out what it was about...and my Grandma Bessie told me she was a feminist because no one was gonna tell her what to think. At the time, my mother thought her mother was having a cosmic episode...until she figured out Grandma was perfectly serious. Albeit somewhat nervous at first, Mom jumped on the bandwagon and started making a host of changes in her own life that I would only come to fully appreciate decades later.

In the grand scheme of things, it seem pretty ridiculous to me that we are still having the same battles over our bodies, our rights, and our paychecks 52 years later. Fifty-two...that's over a half-a-century. Half-a-century of fighting for equality. Really?

So when the Women's March thing started last year after the presidential election, I was elated at the idea, but then very disturbed to see Linda Sarsour's name on the main organizer's list. She's established herself as a BDS supporter and despite her statements to the contrary, an advocate for terrorism against Israeli civilians, and a general hater of Jews. 

A year later, she is not only on the organizer's list again, she shares it with three other women, Carmen Perez, Bob Bland, and Tamika D. Mallory, who, like her, have ties to people who advocate for anti-semitism, specifically, Louis Farrakhan. These are not casual ties, these are full-frontal support of this man's agenda. Farrakhan isn't merely a well-established antisemite, misogynist, and a wholesale distributor of hate, he is an advocate for violence against Jews. 

It all came to a head last week, after Farrakhan delivered his address to the annual Nation of Islam gathering for Saviours’ Day, the sect’s three-day holiday honoring its founder, Wallace Fard Muhammad. Farrakhan denounced “Satanic Jews,” said that “when you want something in this world, the Jew holds the door,” and at the climax of his speech, proclaimed, “White folks are going down, and Satan is going down, and Farrakhan by God’s grace has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew—and I’m here to say, your time is up.”                            John-Paul Pagano, March 8, 2018 in the ATLANTIC MONTHLY

The refusal of the Women's March leadership to disassociate themselves with Nation Of Islam and their rhetoric sends a deeply disturbing message to America, and one We, the Jewish People, can ill afford to ignore. Their refusal to condemn Farrakhan's hateful stance puts Jews clearly in the middle of a different kind of conflict, and reinforces the idea that the United States of America is not our country and we do not belong here. 

At around the same time Grandma Bessie was declaring her feminism, my high school sociology teacher, Mr. Rapport, a Jewish gentleman who, like my dad, fought in World War II, told a small group of us not to get "too comfortable." Sure, Dr. Heschel marched with Dr. King, and Jews were active in the the civil rights movement, but when push came to shove, we would be the true "other" in a racial divide. Not black, not white enough, and not Christian. 

Well, folks, look around. Acts of antisemitism are up since 57% in inauguration day. We have a president that dog-whistles old-time antisemitic images in his tweets. We have states that refuse to condemn white supremacist groups as terrorist organizations. And Putin blames the Jews for interfering with elections. Feckless Leader may be dumb as a box o'rocks, but stupid he ain't. He knows exactly what he is saying/tweeting. He just thinks we're too stupid to notice. 

We, the People, Jewish or otherwise, are not.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

My bottom line is that the Women's March organization is NOT for Jewish women. Unless they have a massive change of leadership between now and next week, supporting that march is supporting organizations that promote hatred. Not even the initial intent can wash this away. it's just like Feckless's tweet....they know exactly what they are doing and exactly what they are saying. if your local organization is in any way aligned with the national one, make sure you tell your local folk that hatred is unacceptable, and you understand exactly the position the national committee is taking.

Let me make this very clear: if you are a Jewish woman, you are not welcome at that march. It doesn't matter if your are anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, anti-religious, anti-Feckless, or Aunty Em. You are a Jew. And no matter what your political bent, you will always be a Jew first. 

See, here's the last word on this: there will be Jewish women who will march because they think it's for the greater good. But it's not. People like Sarsour, Perez, Bland, and Mallory will stand by when you are arrested and sent to the newest version of the ovens. People like those women who support guys like Farrakhan really do understand his message and they stand by it. Just as they would stand by us as we would be herded to cattle cars. 

We cannot afford to forget what Representative Jason Chaffetz (former Congressman from Utah's 3rd District) told us about the Parkland survivors:

We need more good news, more good message, more of the good word reaching out to America. I think of those kids who went back to school today after that horrific shooting, and they need something more. They need a belief in God and Jesus Christ. I think that would help. And this is a historic moment. 

We do, do we? This from a guy who was born Jewish. And you thought all that stuff from our elected representatives was in the past? Wrong, again. What they need are AR-15s off the store shelves. 

This weekend kids from all over the country are headed to Washington, D.C to participate in March For Our Lives demanding sane gun laws. Jewish kids, lots of them, are boarding busses and planes to get there. Kids from the Twin Cities will observe Shabbat...and walk the two miles from where they are staying to where that march will be held. 

They know what's at stake. They get it. And they can still be Jewish doing it. 

We, the Jewish Women of the United States, should take a page from their book.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Saying you are Jewish is not exactly the same as being a Jew.

Being a Jew is important.